The next critical growth area for an MSP’s tech stack is digital security
The increase in cyber threats across the board is crippling businesses. Digital security technologies were often in the shadow of fancy new hardware, software and cloud technologies that offered greater gains, but security solutions are fast becoming the foundation for many successful managed service providers, says Jacquie Hough, ESET’s MSP specialist, “because, without a solid security foundation, even the most advanced technologies will be obsolete if attacked.”
Managed service providers (MSPs) – and resellers before them – play a critical role in the IT ecosystem. By outsourcing many day-to-day IT requirements to these companies, smaller organisations, in particular, can save costs, improve service levels and focus more resources on growing the business. Theoretically, they can also reduce security risks by handing the task over to a more capable and well-resourced provider. Therefore, MSPs looking to offer greater value to their customers have a great opportunity to provide digital security solutions.
ESET has now launched dedicated XDR security solutions, ESET Inspect and ESET Inspect Cloud – currently available to ESET’s enterprise business customers – which will be accessible via ESET’s MSP Administrator platform as used by current MSPs to protect their customers’ digital journeys. The new offering will allow current and prospective MSP customers access to a simplified and unified digital security platform, with MSP-optimised solutions which are easy to use, help minimise their daily operations, and allow MSPs to provide top-rated security to help solidify their own customers’ trust.
This is accomplished without compromising efficiency on behalf of quality, because the new platform integrates balanced breach prevention, detection and response capabilities, and comprehensive threat intelligence. It is modular, adaptable, and continuously innovated with each system upgrade.
Sales through the channel are increasing year on year, regardless of the vendor solution. The line between resellers – our traditional channel for digital security solutions – and MSPs is blurring, highlighting the need for resellers and partners alike to evolve strategies and consider how digital security can play a role in their tech stack offerings.
Canalys recently published a report looking at the MSP tech stack, presenting the layers to the five core MSP technologies: Remote monitoring and management, cloud SaaS, backup, IT service management and now cyber security. MSPs thrive and grow when they understand their position in this ecosystem and that digital security is the foundation for a solid, dependable tech stack.
Customers’ understanding of digital security has also advanced a lot in recent years, and they are shifting from digital security being a compliance item, to providing proactive insights and monitoring that actively protects their investments.
In 2021, digital security within managed services grew by 18%. It is not just about endpoint and networking products anymore. This growth stat reveals that MSPs must provide more holistic security strategies, including consulting, technology, monitoring, analytics and remediation services. Success as a reseller and MSP is no longer rooted in just landing sales.
The report serves as an insightful lens into the MSP world because it reveals the delicate balance between trust and freedom sought by MSPs: the confidence to select any one vendor as a long-term, stable partner committed to its MSP program and the freedom to mix and match several trusted vendors from the tech stack to access the best technologies available. ESET’s interoperability is a feature, and our programme is designed with this in mind.
ESET targets partners who specifically offer SLA-based services to their end customers. With ESET’s industry-leading solutions and backing, this volume-based service is highly flexible and profitable. What makes ESET’s solutions for its partners particularly attractive is the ability to manage the entire suite of ESET security solutions and products from a single console which can be turned on and off as the customer requires.
And when dealing with end customers in the SMB space, where every cost is scrutinised, it is critical to demonstrate value, transforming the service offering from a pure-play protection offering to threat detection and proactive response. ESET’s solution is flexible and scalable in design, future-proofing the MSPs’ multitenancy model and helping clear security engineers’ overflowing helpdesk. In terms of making life easier for MSPs, ESET offers a flexible, self-service, zero-commitment billing model which keeps the pressure off and allows their MSP partners to ‘pay as they go’ monthly and for the subscriptions they actually need.
For many MSPs trudging through this complexity, turning to ESET may be a perfect fit, to put it boldly. The ideal MSP partner is a partner who understands ESET products, firstly. And secondly, they must have the trust of their end user to manage their security requirements.
MSPs are hungry for more revenue so they need a partner that they and their end customers can trust to deliver reliable products and exceptional value. If this is done well, profit and growth will follow.